1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a temperature control system.
2. Description of Related Art
As known characteristics of a battery, the internal resistance increases and input and output characteristics deteriorate as the temperature decreases, and degradation of the battery speeds up as the temperature increases.
A cooling system for a battery for use in an automobile is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 63-145705 (JP 63-145705 U). The cooling system includes an evaporator that cools the vehicle interior, a condenser that cools a heat exchange medium delivered to the evaporator, and a compressor that pressurizes a cooling medium delivered to the condenser. The cooling system is characterized in that a battery case contains a battery mounted in an engine room, the battery case is formed with an outside-air introduction duct, a heat exchanger is housed in the battery case, and the heat exchanger is connected to a heat exchange medium passage that connects the evaporator for cooling the vehicle interior with the compressor.
In recent years, electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHV) capable of charging an on-vehicle battery using a power supply provided outside of the vehicle (which will be called “external power supply”) are of particular interest. This type of charging will be called “external charging”.